Grassmannian as projection matrices

The real Grassmannian of $k$-planes is represented by symmetric idempotent matrices of trace $k$.

The complex Grassmannian of $k$-planes in ${\mathbb{C}}^n$ identifies with the displayed Hermitian orthogonal projection matrices. A plane is recovered as the image of its projection. Near a plane $E$, a neighboring plane is the graph of a complex linear map $Z:E\to E^{\perp }$. Its projection is $W(W^{\ast }W{)}^{-1}{W}^{\ast }$ with $W=(I,Z{)}^T$. The unitary group acts transitively by conjugation, and its tangent directions are $[A,P]$ with $A^{\ast }=-A$.

For real $c_1<\cdots <c_n$ and $C=\mathrm{diag}(c_1,\dots ,c_n)$, the critical points are the coordinate projections $P_I$, indexed by $k$-subsets $I=\{i_1<\cdots <i_k\}$. Indeed $df([A,P])=\mathrm{tr}([P,C]A)$, which vanishes for every skew-Hermitian $A$ exactly when $[P,C]=0$. In the graph chart at $P_I$,Every coefficient is nonzero, so the Hessian matrix is nondegenerate. Each pair $j<i$ supplies two negative real directions, giving the displayed Morse index. The function is a Morse function even if distinct critical points happen to have equal critical values.

Here $N_r$ counts $k$-subsets $i_1<\cdots <i_k$ with ${\sum }_a(i_a-a)=r$, equivalently partitions of an integer $r$ contained in a $k$ by $(n-k)$ rectangle. The diagonal trace Morse function on a complex Grassmannian has only even Morse indices. Its Morse chain complex therefore has zero differentials, proving the displayed torsion-free integral homology. For $\mathrm{Gr}(2,4)$ the even-degree ranks are $(1,1,2,1,1)$ in degrees $0,2,4,6,8$.

Every rank-one orthogonal projection has the form $x{x}^T$ for a unit vector, uniquely up to replacing $x$ by $-x$.

The real projective plane is the quotient of $S^2$ by $x\sim -x$ and parametrizes lines through the origin in ${\mathbb{R}}^3$.

In a triangle whose two sides at an apex are glued with that apex fixed, cross-sections become circles and the apex becomes their cone point. This quotient is a disc. A second triangle with boundary word $aa{b}^{-1}$ becomes a Möbius band after the $a$ sides are identified. Gluing the remaining $b$ boundary to the first disc caps the band and gives the real projective plane. The resulting two-face cell structure has two vertices, three edges and Euler characteristic one.

On vertices $1,\dots ,6$, take the simplicial complex generated by $123,124,135,146,156,236,245,256,345,346$. Every edge occurs in two facets. The vertex links, listed cyclically, are $23564$, $13654$, $12645$, $12536$, $13426$, and $14325$, respectively. Thus each vertex link is a cycle graph, and the realization is a compact connected surface without boundary. Its Euler characteristic is $6-15+10=1$, so the classification theorem for surfaces identifies it with the real projective plane. All fifteen possible edges occur, and the listed triangles are distinct three-element sets, so this is an honest abstract simplicial complex, not merely a polygon presentation.

A degree-$a$ homogeneous real polynomial defines a section of the $a$th tensor power of the dual real tautological line bundle over ${\mathbb{RP}}^2$. Its first Stiefel–Whitney class is $au$, where $u$ generates $H^1({\mathbb{RP}}^2;{\mathbb{F}}_2)$. By parity of zeros of a real line-bundle section, a generic zero curve has mod-two dual class $au$. Two transverse zero curves of degrees $a,b$ therefore have intersection parity $⟨ab{u}^2,[{\mathbb{RP}}^2{]}_2⟩=ab$, since two distinct projective lines intersect once. For example, the line $z=0$ and the conic $x^2+y^2-z^2=0$ are disjoint in the real projective plane, although their degree product is two.

Each real projective plane has cells $e_0,e_1,e_2$ with $d{e}_2=2e_1$ and $d{e}_1=0$. Their product cellular chain complex has ranks $1,2,3,2,1$. Its degree-two cycle $e_1\times e_1$ has order two in homology. The degree-three cycle $e_2\times e_1+e_1\times e_2$ also has order two, because its double is $d(e_2\times e_2)$. Consequently $H_0=\mathbb{Z}$, $H_1=(\mathbb{Z}/2{)}^2$, $H_2=H_3=\mathbb{Z}/2$ and all other groups vanish. The degree-three torsion is also the Tor functor term in the Künneth theorem.

The displayed metric on antipodal classes of the unit sphere induces its quotient topology. Triangle inequality follows by choosing the signs that realize each minimum and applying the Euclidean triangle inequality. Distinct classes have disjoint saturated unions of small balls, proving the quotient is Hausdorff; compactness follows from the continuous quotient map.